All sides produce propaganda in wartime, but the White House’s recent social media posts that splice real combat footage with clips from video games, sports and movies feel new in tone.
Several videos pair authentic imagery of missile strikes and damaged sites with entertainment footage. One post sets real airstrikes to music and excerpts from the Call of Duty franchise; another alternates combat scenes with home runs and slam dunks lifted from Wii Sports. Other edits splice explosions with clips from Top Gun, SpongeBob, Braveheart and even a Breaking Bad scene declaring ‘I AM the danger!’
Iranian state media has answered in kind with stylized, Lego-like animations: minifigure versions of President Trump and Prime Minister Netanyahu conspiring; Iranian commanders pressing launch buttons; cartoon soldiers and civilians fleeing burning wreckage in animated depictions of Israel, Dubai and Saudi Arabia.
The approach has drawn sharp criticism. Chicago Cardinal Blaise Cupich said he found it ‘sickening’ that real death and suffering are being treated like a game, warning that such spectacle risks numbing people’s compassion and encouraging an appetite for violence.
At a briefing, a White House spokesperson pushed back, saying critics ask for apologies for celebrating the military’s effectiveness but that the administration will keep highlighting strikes on Iran’s ballistic missiles, production sites and nuclear ambitions.
John Vick, executive director of Concerned Veterans for America, urged balance: the military’s accomplishments should be recognized, but ‘gamifying’ conflict can demean the sacrifices of the Americans who died.
As a reporter who’s embedded with U.S. troops and aviators, I’ve heard profanity, relief and quiet pride after missions — but never celebration of an opponent’s death. Those who’ve seen war up close understand its cost and rarely treat it like entertainment.